


Darkness & Light

by fraeuleinsahne



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan, The Trials of Apollo - Rick Riordan
Genre: Book 1: The Hidden Oracle (Trials of Apollo), Book 5: The Blood of Olympus (Heroes of Olympus), Book 5: The Tower of Nero (Trials of Apollo), Canon Compliant, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Falling In Love, First Kiss, Getting to Know Each Other, M/M, Post Tower of Nero, Post-The Blood of Olympus (Heroes of Olympus), The Tyrant's Tomb (Trials of Apollo) Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-08
Updated: 2020-10-08
Packaged: 2021-03-07 20:07:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,886
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26893414
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fraeuleinsahne/pseuds/fraeuleinsahne
Summary: "He, Will Solace, would never let his fear of him show. He would defeat his darkness with the most efficient weapon: fierce, relentless sunshine."A look into Will's relationship with Nico from after BOO all the way to TON and how some things changed while others stayed the same.Beware of spoilers, especially for TTT and TON!TW for slightly depressive undertones because Nico is, well, Nico.(I don't know if that really needs a TW, but better safe than sorry)
Relationships: Nico di Angelo/Will Solace
Comments: 4
Kudos: 110





	Darkness & Light

**Author's Note:**

> Reading TON, I wondered about how Will and Nico's relationship had changed and grown since BOO and decided to put my thoughts into a story.
> 
> I'm sorry about the uncreative title. I really suck at titles.

Will Solace had had the biggest crush on Nico Di Angelo for a long, long time. He couldn't really pinpoint the moment he had developed it.

Maybe it had been during the battle of Manhattan. When all hope had seemed lost, Nico had suddenly shown up and Will still couldn't get over the fact how absolutely badass this small, thin child had looked, only twelve years old at that time. He had summoned armies of dead warriors and saved them – not for the entire battle, but surely he had given them time they had badly needed.

Maybe it had been in the time after, while Nico was staying at camp for a brief period of time. He wouldn't even remember the times Will had treated him when he happened to need a trip to the infirmary, that's for sure, but Will remembered every single time. Gods, he probably hadn't even cared about Will's existence then, but still... There had been something about this boy then, a strange sort of aura, not exactly frightening but also not very pleasant. Will wouldn't stop thinking about it.

Maybe it had been when Nico had come back to camp the night before Gaeas attack, after a long period of absence, and Will had felt as relieved as he hadn't in a long time before. Looking back at it, this had probably been the time. He had never felt happier, never been more eager to see Nico again, after wondering about his well-being for such a long time.

For years, he had searched for any reason to approach him, talk to him, maybe even befriend him. But every time he had finally begun to come up with something, Nico had just... vanished. And somehow this had made him even more desirable for Will.  
So, yeah, somehow he was thankful after all for the war with Gaea and the Romans and everything bad that had happened last summer, because at long last, he was able to talk to Nico Di Angelo.

After the war, somewhere between their days together in the infirmary and later, something changed between them. 

It began when Will carefully treated Nico' wounds. He approached them with his usual gentleness, but only then realized he hadn't exactly been gentle with Nico before.  
He couldn't help but notice the surprise in Nico's face, in the way his body relaxed under his touch. Something that had never been usual for this dark boy who despised physical contact.  
“I didn't think you could be so gentle”, he said. “I mean, I did, just not to me... considering the way you treated me since I came back.”  
It probably was not even meant in an offending way but Will flinched nevertheless.  
“I'm a healer. I needed to take care of your health first and foremost and since you're so stubborn, I figured this would be the most efficient way.”  
“But why aren't you scared of me? Just like...” He did not need to finish his sentence.  
Will had often overheard conversations about Nico.  
_“I don't know, he's just scary.”  
“I don't feel too well being around him.”  
“I'm kinda relieved he left camp again.” _  
Many more things like that.  
And for this reason, Will had decided he would never _ever_ let show that, yes, Nico di Angelo could be a little scary from time to time. He often had this sort of unnerving aura around him. It didn't help that he was always wearing black, hardly ever smiling and didn't like to be touched. But Will had the feeling that Nico had gotten enough of these scared, avoiding reactions for an entire lifetime. Maybe even two.  
So, he, Will Solace, would never let his fear of him show. He would defeat his darkness with the most efficient weapon: fierce, relentless sunshine.  
“I thought you probably wouldn't really like me if you could scare me that easily”, he answered then, shrugging as if he didn't really care. Although he cared. He cared _so much_.  
“So, you want me to like you?”, Nico asked, a light blush appearing on his dead-white cheeks.  
Will smiled, unable to suppress blushing himself. “Of course I want you to like me.”  
Then he carefully continued treating Nico's wounds.  
The other boy relaxed and responded in a barely audible voice.  
“I like you both ways.”  
There was a strange look on his face, as if he really saw Will for the first time ever.

Another thing he knew Nico despised was pity. There _were_ people who genuinely cared about him, Percy Jackson for instance, or Jason Grace. But they all too often treated him as if he was as breakable as porcelain and after all, Nico was a fighter. He didn't want to be pitied.  
Still, somewhere around his second day at the infirmary, Nico looked thoughtful, somehow almost disappointed after watching Will treating other campers in his usual way for a while.  
“I still don't get it”, he said, when Will came over to bring him lunch. They shared almost every meal during Nico's brief stay, sitting next to each other on Nico's bed, talking or just eating in silence.  
“Get what?”, Will asked.  
“Why you behave so differently around me.”  
Will slightly shook his head. This boy surely needed a lot more insurance than others.  
“Well, I got the impression you don't like to be cared about too much, because there are already people who care about you and you always seem to, like, shut them out. And I don't like being shut out. You know, maybe it's some healer thing.”  
“You really care about me?” Suddenly, Nico seemed a lot younger than before. There was something like hope in his eyes. Will was not sure if he had ever seen something similar in Nico's gaze before. And he had watched Nico closely, at least every time he had had the possibility.  
“Of course.” He shrugged. “Nearly everyone here cares about you, stupid. You just don't seem to see.”  
Nico appeared to let these words sink in. It seemed that he definitely needed a confirmation to what Will had said earlier, as if he really could not believe what he was hearing was true. That Will truly tried to be his friend.  
“Well... I might start trying”, Nico said in a small voice.  
Then something extraordinary happened: He smiled. It was a little, wistful smile, but it changed his face completely. He looked years younger. Will had to fight the urge to hug him as tight as no one had probably ever hugged him before.  
“That's good”, Will answered. “Cause I have to admit, it was starting to get a little difficult. You know, suppressing my usual care.” He smiled his warmest smile and felt quite relieved to finally being able to let his true feelings show. Well, at least some of them.  
“So, why do you keep your distance so much?”  
Nico looked down, the small smile vanishing from his face.  
“Well, I'm the son of...”  
“Don't do that.” Will spoke as gently as he tended his wounds, not as energetic as usual when he was talking to Nico. Before he could stop himself, his hand reached out to cover the other boy's which still felt cold and not quite right. Shadowy. Nico didn't pull away.  
“Don't hide behind your parentage”, Will said. “We are able to choose our paths ourselves. Make our own choices. Even monsters decide not to be monsters and help us instead. You are more than just a child of Hades.”  
There was a long silence between them, but it was not unpleasant. Nico's hand, still covered by his own, began to warm up a little.  
Finally, Nico spoke up again.  
“Yeah, I know.” He sighed.  
There still was a lot of sunshine required to get rid of all this darkness. But, being healer, Will could easily notice when something was starting to heal.  
He took a quick look at his watch. Lunchtime was almost over and he had the feeling this conversation needed a break, too.  
One step at a time.  
“Now, let me see your wounds”, he said cheerfully and finally removed his hand.  
“And Nico?”  
“Yeah?”  
“Don't... don't shut me out, okay? Please...” He had never asked him for something before, normally telling him what to do in order to preserve his health as top priority. But now, he felt a change in their relationship. He felt the beginning of something he had wished for a long, long time. Hopefully, he was not mistaken and the other boy could feel it, too.  
Nico swallowed.  
“I'll try. I promise.”

After Nico's stay, Will had been worried that everything would go back to normal. Nico avoiding people, Will especially, and vanishing sooner or later, as usual. But it seemed that this time really was different.  
Somehow, it became easier for Nico to be around people. Finally, there were friends around him, chatting merrily, even touching him now and then without him even flinching.  
And then there was Will. It had become a sort of habit that they would spend some time together every day, mostly in the evenings after dinner, when they took a long walk on the beach or through the woods, just the two of them, walking and talking about everything and nothing all at once.  
Sometimes, their hands or arms brushed and it could have been accidental or not. Sometimes, they sat down and sometimes Nico looked like he was considering resting his head on Will's shoulder, but never did in the end. Sometimes, it got almost too much to bare for Will. But he could not rush the other boy.  
Nico still had nightmares, though he seemed to heal slowly.  
It was a good sign, Will decided, that he would talk to him about them. It was also a good sign that he opened up about his past. Of course, he had heard all kinds of stories about Nico, so he was not entirely surprised when he told him about his real age and the time in the Lotus Hotel and of course, he had heard about Bianca.  
But still, it was different hearing those stories in Nico's own way. It also helped a lot in understanding him and his ways. Will learned that not everything could be healed in an instance, that some wounds needed a lot of time and a lot of carefulness to really heal. That Nico's healing process was far from over.  
Yes, it was hard to see him fiercely fighting back tears when talking about his dead sister or feel him shiver when he was remembering his experiences in Tartarus. But somehow, Will could feel how it helped Nico to tell him all those things with Will just being there, ready to catch him if he would fall.  
It was the strangest, sweetest feeling he had ever experienced.  
“I don't understand how you can still listen to all of this”, Nico once said, as they were sitting on the shore, watching the first stars rise after a beautiful sunset. “Must be depressing for someone as annoyingly cheerful as you.”  
“Hey”, Will protested, playfully slapping him on the shoulder. “You can be quite annoying, too!”  
Then he softened, still resting his hand on Nico's shoulder.  
“Look... I can't even begin to imagine what you've been through, but I just want you to know, even if we don't know each other that long, I want to be there for you, if you'll let me. I promise, I'll be.”  
Nico did not answer to this, but he smiled, and Will could have sworn that the stars in the sky were shining brighter when he did.

They both held their promises, with Nico talking to Will whenever he needed someone and Will listening, always, regardless of what else needed to be done.  
Things changed. Nico started to eat on a regular base, though he still did not eat much, and he spent more time outside in the sun, so his skin looked healthier, too. His eyes were not as sunken in as they had been when he had arrived back in camp last summer but they still seemed to lay deeper in their sockets than they normally should. Sometimes, Will found himself ponder about how he didn't really think of Nico as particularly handsome. His hair was a little too long, his skin still a little too pale, his shape a little too slim. As someone who had committed his life to health, someone as unhealthy-looking as Nico di Angelo just couldn't strike Will as handsome. But he had a certain edge to him, a sort of look you could not turn away from. And finally getting to know him made him all the more attractive to Will.  
As well as his outward appearance, Nico's insides grew healthier, too. He could actually be quite amusing with his dark sarcasm and snarky commentaries and it was fun to bicker with him. A lot of people seemed to find it easier to be around him these days.  
His best friends stayed Jason Grace and Percy Jackson, though. It was not that Will was exactly jealous of them, because he now was very aware of his big crush on Nico and he did not think that any of the two could have remotely similar feelings for him. But still, he felt as if he was missing out something important in their relationship.  
Finally, on this particular evening that somehow changed it all, Will was almost obsessing over Percy Jackson.  
Nico and Percy had sat together at dinner and talked and laughed and looked so carefree. Nico did not look that way when he was with Will.  
It had reminded him of the scene he had witnessed before Nico's stay at the infirmary. Him walking up to Percy, saying something that left the other boy speechless, high-fiving Annabeth and walking back to Will. He had always wondered what that had been about and also, what exactly Nico's relationship with Percy had been.  
This night, when they went for their usual walk, Nico made the biggest confession of all.  
It turned out that Nico had had a huge crush on Percy which Will did not take very well. It almost felt like a punch in the face. How could he, Will Solace, a simple healer and far away from being an actual hero, ever put up with the son of Poseidon?  
He acknowledged, though, that it had cost the other boy a great deal to talk about it, to come out to Will like that. He could see it in the way he desperately searched for any sign of reassurance in the other boys face. That it was okay. That _he_ was okay.  
“Why were you so eager to know?”, Nico asked exasperated.  
Will started to stutter.  
“It's just... I just... don't understand why he...” He shook his head. He could not speak his mind.  
Nico's eyes grew big, when suddenly, the strangest sound came out of his mouth. Nico Di Angelo was laughing. As a son of Apollo, Will had listened to a lot of beautiful music in his life, but Nico's laughter sounded the most beautiful of all to him.  
“Are you jealous?”, Nico asked, still laughing. “William Solace, Mr. Confidence in person, is jealous?”  
“Haha. Very funny”, Will pouted, though he actually was still delighted to hear Nico laughing.  
“I'm totally over it”, he said out of breath, finally having stopped laughing. “I thought you'd know.”  
Suddenly, his face was dead serious. The blush on his cheeks was very prominent.  
And this time, when his hand was brushing Will's, it did not seem accidental at all. His own hand brushed back and suddenly they were holding hands and it was scary and sweet and hot and cold all at once.  
“I... I was kinda hoping for something like this...”, Will admitted. “But I never knew if you were... in for it, too... I guess?”  
Nico smiled widely.  
“I'm in, if you're in.”  
And just like this, everything changed while it still stayed the same, and somehow, they became... more.

Their first kiss happened a few days later. They were sitting on top of Cabin 13, after sword practice and chatting lighthearted.  
“I knew you were a lost case with the sword the first time I saw you”, Nico said teasingly, though he was wearing a fond smile. Will could not help but notice that he smiled a lot more than before.  
“Hey, you know I have other qualities!” He punched Nico lightly.  
“Yeah, you earn credit for being the most annoying person in camp”, the other boy answered and punched back.  
“I like to call myself persistent”, Will explained. “So that was the first thing you thought about me?”  
“Well, yeah, at least after actually talking to you.”  
Will thought back to their meeting after Nico's suicidal shadow-travel odyssey. He had been very fast forward that time, but just because he had worried so much.  
“Have you ever felt like I came on too strong on you?”, he asked now.  
“No, I actually think, you were quite right for me.” Nico suddenly looked pretty curious.  
“What was the first thing you thought of me?”  
“That I never saw someone as sad as you”, Will said, because he thought he deserved an honest answer.  
“Oh.” Nico seemed to think about that for a moment. “And what about now?”  
“It's better now.” It really was and Will could not be happier about it. Nico was getting better, step by step, though the process still was far from over.  
“Yeah, thanks to you.” Nico still looked thoughtful, maybe even a little sad.  
“No, don't you dare give all the credit to me, Di Angelo”, Will exclaimed. He felt so upset, he almost fell off the roof.  
“You did this yourself. You pulled yourself out of this hole and...”  
Will needed a second to grasp that he was being kissed and when he finally did, he had a feeling he could explode. It felt as if his whole body was suddenly filled with sunlight and warmth and he could notice that Nico felt it, too. His lips were cold and dry, but somehow, it did not feel unpleasant, because they were a perfect match to Will's own, which were warm and always a little too wet.  
“Did you just kiss me to shut me up?”, Will asked, trying to sound annoyed but failing miserably.  
Nico grinned.  
“Maybe.”  
Then he looked at Will with the softest smile and the sunlight was back.  
“But now I will kiss you because I really, really want to.”  
And their second kiss was so much more.

There were many kisses to follow, so much time they spent together and for the first time Nico actually seemed happy, at least as happy as a demigod could be.  
And it made Will happy to see him this way.  
Then Jason Grace died and somehow it made things worse than before for Nico but somehow it still was better because this time he had Will.  
It was then that Will learned an important thing about being a healer: That sometimes you just had to accept certain things, even if it meant accepting not being able to heal someone. That there were limits to what even the best healer in camp could achieve. And that it did not mean he could not help at all.  
A while ago, Will had realized that he would never be able to stop Nico from doing his “underworldy” stuff. The only way he could actually help was to support him, to be there when he was doing it and to prepare what he needed in the aftermath.  
Somehow, this whole dying-of-a-beloved-person-thing was similar. As a healer he wished so badly for Nico to heal properly, to lead a happy life and make peace with his losses, but it was not that easy. There were steps forward and steps backward. Jason's death certainly was a major step backwards. Sometimes, Nico's pain was almost too much for him to bare.  
But he had to accept it. Accept, that sometimes things took time and there was not much he could do except being there for Nico in the best way he could.  
Even if it meant suggesting someone different might help him better than he could.  
Even if it meant spending a perfectly fine afternoon searching for rare ugly lizards with his boyfriend to prepare for a visit to one of the most disgusting places he could imagine.  
“I know how much you must probably hate this”, Nico said while scanning the muddy fields. “You could still back out.”  
“Absolutely not.” Will vigorously shook his head.  
Nico frowned and let out a long breath.  
“How can you even stand me? You should just get another boyfriend or...”  
“Nico!” Will stopped and apparently he had spoken up louder than he wanted to, because Nico stopped dead on his track and turned to face him.  
“It's not as simple as that”, he continued in a lower voice. “I want to be with _you_.”  
He looked directly into Nico's glooming eyes. He had to force himself to not look away but he remembered how he had promised to himself that he would always fight Nico's darkness with sunshine.  
“Don't you see? We belong _together_!”  
“What?” The ghost of a smile appeared on Nico's face, but Will had never been happier to see him smile. Then it vanished as soon as it came for being replaced by a big frown again.  
“Even if I'm like this?”  
It was Will's turn to smile now.  
“Especially when you're like this. Because being boyfriends... being in a relationship, it's not all about the good times. It's about the bad times, too. And you're clearly having bad times now, but you know I promised to be there if you needed me.”  
Nico sighed and leaned into him to rest their foreheads together. His eyes were closed and he still looked as if he was in pain.  
Then he moved ever so slightly and kissed him lightly on the lips.  
“You're the best, you know?”, he said quietly.  
Will grinned widely. “That's just what I wanted to hear, Di Angelo.”  
Nico cleared his throat.  
“We should... probably... get going...” He turned around again.  
Will once again reached out for him, though, and crossed his arms before the other boy's chest, hugging him tightly from behind and burying his face in his boyfriend's hair.  
“I won't leave you”, he mumbled into his ear. “I'll stay with you.”  
Finally, Nico seemed to relax a little. Will's heart felt lighter than it had for a long time.  
“Now, let's go catch a lizard!”

The big realisation of Will Solace's crush on Nico Di Angelo was that they were two sides of the same coin. Yes, there was darkness inside of Nico, but there also was a lot of brightness in Will, a brightness that needed to be shared. They needed each other to be complete.  
So, as long as there was Will, there was hope. He would be as supporting as he could be, always hoping that it would be enough, always hoping that someday, somehow Nico would heal completely.  
But in the meantime, he would be there for him regardless.

**Author's Note:**

> Some of this was kind of inspired by the amazing Solangelo art of Alessia Trunfio - you should definitely check it out on tumblr or Instagram!
> 
> I don't publish much fanfiction because I don't like most of the stuff I'm writing (and sometimes have the feeling my English is really bad), but I'm quite content with this.  
> I'd love to hear what you think about it!


End file.
